BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is on his way to form government in Odisha for fifth consecutive time, trends of counting for the Assembly polls suggest. While BJD is leading in 113 seats, the BJP which is ahead in 21 seats is far behind. The main opposition Congress has, however, slumped to the third position behind the BJP.
The BJD sweep in the Assembly polls despite nationwide Modi wave has again proved that the voters of Odisha have put their stamp of approval on a Naveen Patnaik Government in an overwhelming manner.
In the Lok Sabha polls also the regional outfit is ahead of its main rival BJP by leading in at least 12 constituencies, according to the latest trends. The BJP is leading in 8 seats and Congress in one, though the trends in some of the constituencies are fluctuating.
While the Chief Minister is leading in both the Assembly seats, Hinjili and Bijepur, by huge margins, State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik is trailing in Ghasipura and Bhandaripokhari. However, Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Narasingh Mishra is ahead of his BJD rival in Balangir.
According to reports, Congress is ahead in 10 seats. The Barabati-Cuttack seat has gone to Mohammed Moquim of Congress who defeated his nearest BJD rival Debasis Samantray by over 4,000 votes.
Several ministers in the Naveen Patnaik ministry have won or are leading in their constituencies. Prominent among them are Finance Minister Sashibhusan Behera who is leading against his Congress rival Ganeswar Behera by a margin of 4,769 votes. The ministers who have won include Bikram Keshari Arukha from Bhanjanagar who defeated BJP candidate Pradyumna Nayak by 9,424 votes. Minister of State for Energy Sushant Singh also retained Bhatli by defeating BJP’s Irashish Acharya by 23,332 votes.
Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Ashok Panda was leading against his BJP rival Babu Singh, Speaker of the Assembly Pradip Amat was leading from Boudh against his BJP rival Sushant Kumar Pradhan by 10,448 votes. Former mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and BJD candidate from Bhubaneswar-central seat Ananta Narayan Jena is also ahead of his BJP rival Jagannath Pradhan by over 10,000 votes. Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Chandra Sarathi Behera was also leading over his nearest rival from Cuttack Sadar seat.
Prominent losers in the BJD include Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty who was defeated by his BJP rival by a slender margin.
Swearing in likely on May 27
Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is likely to take oath for the fifth consecutive time along with 21 other members on May 27. However, swearing in ceremony is going to be a low key affair because of cyclone Fani which devastated many areas of coastal Odisha
Opposition chief whip in the outgoing Assembly Tara Prasad Bahinipati, who was trailing behind BJD candidate Rabi Narayan Nanda in earlier rounds from Jeypore, has now established a lead.
Though the split vote theory seemed to have worked in some of the Lok Sabha constituencies, coastal Odisha has remained an impregnable fort of the ruling BJD. The party candidates are leading with comfortable margins in Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Kendrapara.
Prominent among those trailing in the Lok Sabha polls include BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda from Kendrapara which had consumed a lot of media space during the last one month. Another prominent BJP candidate, Prakash Mishra is also trailing behind in Cuttack. Mishra was pitted against BJD veteran Bhartruhari Mahatab. Puri seat is, however, witnessing a tough fight with trends fluctuating between sitting BJD MP Pinaki Mishra and BJP’s Sambit Patra. However, Mishra has established a slender lead according to latest trends.
However, BJP state president Basant Panda is leading from Kalahandi. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram is also leading from Sundargarh by a margin of nearly two lakh votes against Congress rival George Tirkey. While Aparajita Sarangi of BJP is leading from Bhubaneswar, former Union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu is leading from Berhampur.
The result in some constituencies including Balangir, Balasore and Sambalpur may remain uncertain till the last round as leading trends are fluctuating between the BJD and BJP candidates. However, Sangeeta Singhdeo of BJP was leading in Balangir till the reports last came in. Similarly, national BJP secretary Suresh Pujari has established a lead against Prasanna Acharya of BJD in Bargarh.
Rajya Sabha member Achyuta Samanta contesting as a BJD candidate from Kandhamal is leading against Kharavela Swain of BJP. Similarly, BJD candidates are leading in Koraput and Nabarangpur.